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No. 12-5150 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT ________________ MINGO LOGAN COAL COMPANY, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, Defendant-Appellant. ________________ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Case No. 1:10-cv-541-ABJ (Hon. Amy Berman Jackson) ________________ PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC ________________ ROBERT M. ROLFE GEORGE P. SIBLEY, III HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP Riverfront Plaza, East Tower 951 East Byrd Street Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 788-8200 VIRGINIA S. ALBRECHT DEIDRE G. DUNCAN HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20037 (202) 955-1500 PAUL D. CLEMENT Counsel of Record VIET D. DINH NATHAN A. SALES JEFFREY M. HARRIS BANCROFT PLLC 1919 M Street NW Suite 470 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 234-0090 pclement@bancroftpllc.com

Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellee Mingo Logan Coal Company June 7, 2013

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CERTIFICATE AS TO PARTIES, RULINGS, AND RELATED CASES Pursuant to Circuit Rule 28(a)(1), Plaintiff-Appellee Mingo Logan Coal Company states as follows with respect to this case: A. Parties, Intervenors, and Amici

Plaintiff-Appellee is Mingo Logan Coal Company, a subsidiary of Arch Coal, Inc. Defendant-Appellant is the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The parties listed below participated as amici in the district court, unless otherwise indicated. The underlined parties participated as amici in this Court: Alabama Mining Association Alaska Miners Association American Farm Bureau Federation American Road & Transportation Builders Association Arizona Mining Association Associated General Contractors of America (did not participate in district court) Association of American Railroads Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America Coal Operators & Associates, Inc. Coal River Mountain Watch Colorado Mining Association Fertilizer Institute Foundation for Environmental & Economic Progress

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Randy C. Huffman, acting in his official capacity as Cabinet Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the State of West Virginia Idaho Mining Association Illinois Coal Association Indiana Coal Council, Inc. Industrial Minerals Association North America Kentucky Coal Association Montana Coal Council National Association of Home Builders National Association of Manufacturers National Council of Coal Lessors, Inc. National Mining Association National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association Natural Resources Defense Council (did not participate in district court) New Mexico Mining Association Northwest Mining Association Ohio Coal Association Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition Pennsylvania Coal Association Sierra Club Tennessee Mining Association United Company

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Utah Mining Association Utility Water Act Group Virginia Coal Association West Virginia Coal Association West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Western Business Roundtable Wyoming Mining Association B. Ruling Under Review

The ruling under review is an Order and Memorandum Opinion issued by the Honorable Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 23, 2012 in Mingo Logan Coal Company Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 1:10-cv-00541-ABJ. JA175-76 and JA177210. The opinion is published at 850 F. Supp. 2d 133 (D.D.C. 2012). C. Related Cases

This case was not previously before this Court or any other appellate court. Several amici participating in this appeal have challenged the U.S. Department of the Army Permit No. 199800436-3, the Clean Water Act section 404 permit that is relevant to this case. See Ohio Valley Envtl. Coal. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engrs , No. 3:05-cv-00784 (S.D. W. Va. filed Sept. 22, 2005). Plaintiff-Appellee Mingo Logan Coal Company is an Intervenor-Defendant in that case. Counsel is not

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aware of any other related proceedings currently pending before this or any other court, as defined by Circuit Rule 28(a)(1)(C). Respectfully submitted, s/Paul D. Clement PAUL D. CLEMENT BANCROFT PLLC 1919 M Street NW Suite 470 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 234-0090 pclement@bancroftpllc.com

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CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 26.1 and D.C. Circuit Rule 26.1, Plaintiff-Appellee Mingo Logan Coal Company (Mingo Logan) states that it is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arch Coal, Inc.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE AS TO PARTIES, RULINGS, AND RELATED CASES ........................................................................................................................i A. B. C. Parties, Intervenors, and Amici ..............................................................i Ruling Under Review .......................................................................... iii Related Cases ...................................................................................... iii

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION AND RULE 35 STATEMENT ................................................... 1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 2 REASONS FOR GRANTING REHEARING EN BANC ........................................ 6 I. The Panels Opinion Undermines The Corps Primary Role In The Section 404 Permitting Process And Congress Effort To Ensure Regulatory Certainty. ........................................................................... 6 The Panel Ignored Serious Retroactivity And Takings Concerns. ................ 12 The Regulatory Uncertainty Resulting From The Panels Opinion Will Harm Future Investors And State Governments...................... 14

II. III.

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 15

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Bell Atlantic v. FCC, 24 F.3d 1441 (D.C. Cir. 1994) ...............................................14 Bowen v. Georgetown Univ. Hosp., 488 U.S. 204 (1988)........................................13 Coeur Alaska v. Se. Alaska Conservation Council, 557 U.S. 261 (2009) ........................................................................................ 7, 11 Davis v. Michigan, 489 U.S. 803 (1989)....................................................................7 Free Enter. Fund v. PCAOB, 130 S. Ct. 3138 (2010) ................................................7 Kaiser Aetna v. United States, 444 U.S. 164 (1979) ................................................13 Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244 (1994) .............................................13 Salleh v. Christopher, 85 F.3d 689 (D.C. Cir. 1996)................................................ 11 United States v. Mead, 533 U.S. 218 (2001)............................................................ 11 United States v. Winstar, 518 U.S. 839 (1996) ..........................................................8 Whitman v. Am. Trucking Assns, 531 U.S. 457 (2001) .............................................2 Statutes, Regulations, & Rule 33 U.S.C. 1342(b) .................................................................................................15 33 U.S.C. 1344 ............................................................................................... 3, 7, 8 33 C.F.R. 325.7 ...................................................................................... 3, 7, 10, 12 44 Fed. Reg. 58,076 (Oct. 9, 1979).......................................................................... 11 49 Fed. Reg. 37,998 (Sept. 26, 1984) ........................................................................8 FRAP 35(a)(2) ............................................................................................................ 2 Other Authority 118 Cong. Rec. 33,693 (1972) ................................................................................... 9

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INTRODUCTION AND RULE 35 STATEMENT The authority asserted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in this case is as audacious as it is unprecedented. EPA claims nothing less than a unilateral power to nullify, at any time, a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit issued years ago by a different agency, even though the permitting agency has found that EPAs concerns present no new information and were addressed in the permit when it was issued. EPAs sweeping interpretation of its limited power over specifications under section 404(c) of the CWA is not just breathtaking. It is alsoas the District Court correctly concludedwrong. Congress gave the Army Corps of Engineers the principal permitting authority for discharges of dredged or fill material under section 404; EPAs role is secondary. The panels decision to vest an agency having a subsidiary role with the authority to eviscerate the final agency action of a different agency with the primary statutory role is unprecedented and wrong. It makes no sense to allow EPA to effectively nullify a permit issued by the Corps based on nothing more than the fact that EPAbut not the Corpshas changed its mind. Congress gave the Corps the ultimate authority to grant, modify, or revoke permits, and the ultimate authority to decline to do so. This Court should not upend that regime on as slender a reed as section 404(c). Congress does not

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generally hide elephants in mouseholes, Whitman v. Am. Trucking Assns, 531 U.S. 457, 468 (2001), and did not do so here. EPAs claimed authority to nullify existing permits warrants en banc review as a question of exceptional importance. FRAP 35(a)(2). By holding that EPA may withdraw site specifications years after the Corps issued a permit, the panels decision undermines the broader statutory scheme and Congress efforts to foster regulatory certainty. The ruling is also in substantial tension with Supreme Court cases recognizing the Corps primacy in the section 404 permitting process and the need for clear lines of authority to avoid the burden of regulatory uncertainty. The panels decision raises serious retroactivity and takings concerns. EPAs asserted ability to render years of development and millions of dollars in investments for naught based on nothing more than the subsidiary regulators change of heart will chill private investment in critical sectors of the economy, where some $220 billion each year is contingent upon section 404 permits. That EPAs self-aggrandizement comes at the cost of both the federal executives ability to speak with one voice and the CWAs carefully crafted scheme of cooperative federalism only underscores the need for en banc review. BACKGROUND A. The CWA makes it unlawful to discharge a pollutant into navigable

waters without a permit. Most pollutants are governed by the National Pollutant

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Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) under section 402 of the Act (in which States play a significant role). Section 404, however, grants the Corps exclusive authority to issue permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters at specified disposal sites. 33 U.S.C. 1344(a). The Corps also has sole authority to modify, suspend, or revoke existing permits. 33 C.F.R. 325.7. It was eminently reasonable for Congress to give these functions to the Corps, which had nearly a century of experience regulating dredge and fill activities pursuant to the Rivers and Harbors Acts of 1890, 1899, and 1905. In contrast to the Corps broad authority, Congress gave EPA a subsidiary and carefully circumscribed role. For example, EPA may provide comments to the Corps during the permitting process. 33 C.F.R. pt. 325. It also may prohibit the specification (including the withdrawal of specification) of any defined area as a disposal site if it determines that the discharge of such materials into such area will have an unacceptable adverse effect on the environment. 33 U.S.C.

1344(c). Although EPA has limited authority over the specification of disposal sites in the permit during the permitting process, nothing in the statute authorizes it to withdraw, revoke, or modify permits after they have been issued by the Corps. B. In 1999, Mingo Logans predecessor applied for a section 404 permit

for the Spruce No. 1 coal mine in West Virginia. Over the next seven years, the company worked closely with the Corps, EPA, and State of West Virginia

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throughout an exhaustive environmental review process.

Mingo Logan spent

millions of dollars preparing the necessary studies and agreed to a number of mitigation measures. JA 17. In March 2006, the Corps issued a 1600-page draft Environmental Impact Statement concluding that the Spruce mine would only contribute minimally to cumulative impacts on surface water quality. JA 963 -64. EPA offered a number of comments on the draft, which the Corps addressed at length. Apparently satisfied with the Corps resolution, EPA announced that we have no intention of taking our Spruce Mine concerns any further. JA 982. In January 2007, the Corps issued Mingo Logan a permit for the discharge of fill material into several streams at the Spruce site. The permit recited the Corps authority to modify or revoke the permit under 33 C.F.R. 325.7, see JA 986, but did not suggest in any way that EPA could withdraw specifications or otherwise alter the permit under section 404(c). Nearly three years (and a presidential election) later, EPA asked the Corps to revoke the permit in light of purportedly new information. JA 941. The Corps refused. Applying its longstanding regulatory criteria, the Corps concluded that Mingo Logan had fully complied with its permit and that no new information justified revocation. JA 949-52. EPA then attempted to take matters into its own hands. In March 2010, EPA proposed to veto the permit under section 404(c). JA 288-310. Despite objections from the Corps and West Virginia, JA 937, 946-48,

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EPA issued a final determination purporting to negate the permits authorization to discharge at two of the three disposal sites, JA 775, thus curtailing operations at the Spruce mine by 88%. C. Mingo Logan sought judicial review. The District Court concluded

that EPA exceeded its authority under section 404(c) of the [CWA] when it attempted to invalidate an existing permit. JA 178. Judge Jackson held that EPAs argument failed at Chevron step one because the stunning power claimed by the agency is not conferred by section 404(c) and is contrary to the language, structure, and legislative history of section 404 as a whole. JA 186. Even if the statute were ambiguous, Judge Jackson concluded at Chevron step two that EPAs interpretation was illogical and impractical because it sow[s] a lack of certainty into a system that was expressly intended to provide finality. JA 207. A panel of this Court reversed, holding that section 404(c) grants EPA a broad veto power extending beyond the permit issuance. Add-10. The Court remanded for consideration of Mingo Logans claim that EPAs exercise of authority under section 404(c) for the Spruce mine was arbitrary and capricious. Add-15.

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REASONS FOR GRANTING REHEARING EN BANC I. The Panels Opinion Undermines The Corps Primary Role In The Section 404 Permitting Process And Congress Effort To Ensure Regulatory Certainty. By approving EPAs asserted power to withdraw site specifications years after the Corps has issued a permit, the panel decision eviscerates the Corps primary role in the section 404 permitting process and threatens the regulatory certainty that is a hallmark of the CWAs permitting scheme. Its ruling disregards what members of all three branches of the federal governmentCongress, the Corps, and the Supreme Courthave repeatedly emphasized: that section 404, as the District Court put it, was expressly intended to provide finality. JA 207. A. The panel held that EPA may nullify a permit at any time because

section 404(c) authorizes it to withdraw a specification whenever it finds an unacceptable adverse effect. Add-9. In so doing, the panel myopically focused on a single word in isolation from the statutory scheme as a whole. But a proper focus on section 404 in its entirety reveals that Congress clearly intended to give the Corps, not EPA, the lead role in the permitting process, and to ensure regulatory stability in that costly and often drawn-out process. EPAs claimed postpermit veto power is incompatible with the statutory structure and Congress clearly articulated goals.

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Like any statutory provision, section 404(c) cannot be construed in a vacuum but rather must be read in [its] context and with a view to [its] place in the overall statutory scheme. Davis v. Michigan, 489 U.S. 803, 809 (1989). And section 404 leaves no doubt that it is the Corps, not EPA, which has the lead role in the permitting process. See Coeur Alaska v. Se. Alaska Conservation Council, 557 U.S. 261, 273-77 (2009). It is the Corps, not EPA, which has statutory authority to issue permits under section 404(a). 33 U.S.C. 1344(a). It is the Corps, not EPA, which ensures compliance with those permits. Id. 1344(s). And it is the Corps, not EPA, which has the corresponding carefully circumscribed authority to revoke or modify section 404 permits once issued. 33 C.F.R. 325.7. Against this background, the panels interpretation of section 404(c) to grant EPA the authority to effectively eviscerate a Corps-issued permit makes no sense. It is a core principle of the separation of powersand the raison detre of the federal executive branchthat the executive speaks with one voice. See, e.g., Free Enter. Fund v. PCAOB, 130 S. Ct. 3138, 3155 (2010) (criticizing diffusion of power among executive officers). When Congress assigns primary responsibility to one agency, only a clear congressional command would allow another agency to nullify the practical effect of the primary agencys action. But that is precisely how the panel interpreted section 404(c). Properly interpreted, that section gives EPA the subsidiary but important responsibility to prohibit or withdraw a

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specification. But once the Corps actually issues a permit, there is no longer a specification to withdraw, and EPAs authority is at an end. The panels contrary interpretation is at odds with fundamental principles of administrative law and is at war with the balance of section 404 and Congress clear interest in promoting regulatory finality. For example, Section 404(p)

establishes a safe harbor for regulated entities, assuring them that they will not face liability under the CWA so long as they comply with a Corps-issued permit. 33 U.S.C. 1344(p). Indeed, once a CWA permit is issued, the recipient is assured that it generally will not be modified even to incorporate changes made in regulations during the term of the permit, in order to provide some measure of certainty to both the permittees and the [EPA]. 49 Fed. Reg. 37,998, 38,045 (Sept. 26, 1984). A permit thus insures the holder against the risk of future regulatory change. Cf. United States v. Winstar, 518 U.S. 839 (1996). Section 404(q) reflects a similar commitment to regulatory certainty. That provision requires the Corps and EPA to minimize delays in issuing permits, and to resolve all permit applications within 90 days, to the maximum extent practicable. 33 U.S.C. 1344(q). This assures regulated entities that a request for permission to discharge dredged or fill material will not linger in bureaucratic limbo but rather will be conclusively resolved by a date certain.

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As the District Court recognized, JA 191-95, a post-permit EPA veto would rob these provisions of their finality-conferring force and fundamentally upend the statutory scheme. What is the point of a safe harbor that applies even against subsequent regulatory changes if EPA has perpetual authority to render the permit a nullity by withdrawing disposal authorization at any time? And why would

Congress have instructed the Corps and EPA to resolve all permit applications within 90 days if EPA could reopen the matter at any point thereafter? Section 404s legislative history confirms what is clear from the statutory text. Senator Edmund Muskiethe chief sponsor of the 1972 CWA

amendmentsemphasized that his legislation had three essential elements: uniformity, finality, and enforceability. 118 Cong. Rec. 33,693 (1972). Finality thus was a central goal of the CWA from the beginning. Senator Muskie

specifically emphasized that EPA could withdraw specifications prior to the issuance of any permit to dispose of spoil. Id. at 33,699 (emphasis added). But once the Corps issues the permit, finality concerns predominate. B. The Corps consistently has respected Congress call for regulatory

certainty. Corps regulations specifically address permit modification or suspension and lay out five factors to be balanced in that inquiry, including any significant objections to the authorized activity which were not earlier considered and the extent to which modification, suspension, or other action would adversely affect

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plans, investments, and actions the permittee has reasonably made or taken in reliance on the permit. 33 C.F.R. 325.7(a). This framework allows the Corps to address any newly discovered environmental information not in a vacuum but in light of permit holders settled, investment-backed expectations. Despite the Corps primary role under section 404 and on-point regulations limiting the Corps modification authority, EPA takes the novel litigating position that it has essentially unlimited authority to alter an existing permit. When asked whether it claimed unlimited authority to withdraw post permit or the more modest authority to withdraw post permit based on new information, EPAs counsel made clear it asserted a withdrawal authority uncabined by any newly discovered information requirement. Under EPAs view, the statute and the regulations do not provide that limitation. JA 153. Of course, the obvious explanation for the statute and regulations failure to specify any constraint on EPAs claimed revocation power is that they do not grant EPA any such power in the first place. Given Congress stated finality concerns, it would be remarkable for Congress to grant EPA the ability to eviscerate issued permits without any need to identify newly discovered information or consider reliance interests. The far more rational explanation is that those constraints on revocation are missing because EPAs subsidiary role is limited to addressing the specifications in the permit during the permitting process. But once the permit

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issues, it is the Corps that both plays the primary role under the statute and has promulgated regulations that properly take into account the kind of factors that are relevant in exercising such a potentially sweeping retroactive authority. 1 C. Finally, the panels decision disregards Supreme Court guidance on

the need for regulatory clarity under section 404. In Coeur Alaska, the Court held that the Corps, not EPA, has authority to approve a permit to discharge a slurry of crushed rock and water. It emphasized that the alternative approachin which the Corps authority would not extend to fill material that EPA regulates elsewhere, 557 U.S. at 276would lead to uncertainty from conflicting assertions of regulatory authority. The regulatory scheme discloses a defined, and workable, line for determining whether the Corps or the EPA has the permit authority, id. at 277: If the substance is fill material, then it is a Corps responsibility, full stop. The Court adopted this clear line to avoid burden[ing] industry with [a] confusing division of permitting authority. Id. But the panel decision allows EPA EPAs invocation of Chevron deference is triply erroneous. First, EPAs interpretation of its withdrawal authority is ineligible for deference because section 404 is jointly administered by two agencies, and EPA plays only a bit part in the permitting scheme. Salleh v. Christopher, 85 F.3d 689, 691-92 (D.C. Cir. 1996). Second, an interpretation announced by counsel during oral argument is not the product of a relatively formal administrative procedure that is needed to trigger Chevron. United States v. Mead, 533 U.S. 218, 230 (2001). Third, EPAs newly discovered limitless revocation power is inconsistent with its previous view that the agency may withdraw specifications post-permit only based upon substantial new information. 44 Fed. Reg. 58,076, 58,077 (Oct. 9, 1979). EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for abandoning this reading. 11
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to reclaim through the back door what the Supreme Court denied it via the front door. Surely the Supreme Court did not clarify that the Corpsand not EPAhad authority over fill permits only to allow EPAand not the Corpsto effectively revoke those permits after the fact. II. The Panel Ignored Serious Retroactivity And Takings Concerns. EPAs reading of its section 404(c) authority enables it to disruptindeed, destroypermit holders settled, investment-backed expectations. The panel

should have rejected this interpretation to avoid the grave retroactivity and takings problems that result. Since 1997, Mingo Logan has invested millions of dollars to obtain the necessary approvals for the Spruce mine. JA 15-17. And, in direct reliance on the 2007 permit issued by the Corps (with EPAs consent), the company spent several more million dollars preparing the site and commencing operations. JA 21. Under longstanding Corps regulations, Mingo Logan reasonably expected that its permit would not be altered absent truly extraordinary circumstances. 33 C.F.R.

325.7(a). Yet EPA has now, over the Corps objections, revoked two of the three disposal sites approved years earlier, forcing the company to curtail its operations at Spruce by nearly 88 percent. A massive investment has been rendered

uneconomic by an agency that has simply changed its mind without even expressly considering Mingo Logans substantial reliance interests. Only the clearest of

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congressional commands would justify recognizing such an extreme regulatory authority (and confronting the attendant constitutional issues). Section 404 does not come close. This nullification of Mingo Logans permit raises retroactivity concerns of the first order. Courts repeatedly have condemned government actions that, like EPAs withdrawal of specifications for existing permits, alter[] future regulation in a manner that makes worthless substantial past investment incurred in reliance upon the prior rule. Bowen v. Georgetown Univ. Hosp., 488 U.S. 204, 220 (1988) (Scalia, J., concurring). Retroactive government action is especially harmful in cases, like this one, that concern contractual or property rights, matters in which predictability and stability are of prime importance. Products, 511 U.S. 244, 271 (1994). The panels decision also raises serious concerns under the Takings Clause. See United Co. Amicus Br. In Kaiser Aetna v. United States, 444 U.S. 164 (1979), the Corps approved a proposal to dredge a channel, but later revoked its consent after the work was completed. The Supreme Court held that this regulatory bait and-switch was a compensable taking. Government approvals can lead to the fruition of a number of expectancies embodied in the concept of property expectancies that, if sufficiently important, the Government must condemn and pay for. Id. at 179. A CWA permitwhich offers a shield against liability, as well as Landgraf v. USI Film

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the assurance that modifications will be made only in extraordinary circumstancesinduces precisely those sorts of expectancies. The panel erred in failing to construe section 404(c) to avoid these serious takings problems. See Bell Atlantic v. FCC, 24 F.3d 1441, 1445 (D.C. Cir. 1994). III. The Regulatory Uncertainty Resulting From The Panels Opinion Will Harm Future Investors And State Governments. A. The uncertainty resulting from EPAs reading of section 404(c) will

create powerful disincentives to invest in critical job-creating sectors. As the District Court concluded, lenders and investors would be less willing to extend credit and capital if every construction project involving waterways could be subject to an open-ended risk of cancellation. JA 207. The risk is especially great in light of the substantial resources needed to obtain a permit, build a facility, and bring it into operation in the first place. No one will rationally make those upfront investments if they can be rendered for naught based on a regulatory whim. 2 These harmful effects will be felt throughout the economy, as reflected by the diverse lineup of amici supporting Mingo Logan, including the Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Association of Home According to Prof. David Sunding of the University of California, if investors believe there is a 1% annual risk that EPA will revoke a permit, the expected benefit-cost ratio of projects involving discharge permits decreases by 17.5%. JA 224. A 2% risk of revocation reduces the benefit-cost ratio by 30%. JA 224. Thus, even small changes in the threat of permit revocation can lead to dramatic reductions in private investment. JA 223-24. 14
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Builders, and American Farm Bureau. The Corps issues some 60,000 section 404 permits a year, and over $220 billion of investment annually is conditioned on the issuance of these discharge permits. JA 216. And every $1 spent on such projects generates roughly $3 of downstream economic activity. JA 218. The potential economic consequences of an uncabined regulatory authority to eviscerate issued permits is precisely why the law frowns upon retroactive decision -making and why the Corps revocation authority is generally limited to narrow circumstances. The panels recognition of such a sweeping authority in a provision as ambiguous as section 404(c) clearly merits further review. B. EPAs claimed authority also upsets the delicate federal-state balance

that Congress struck in the CWA. EPA has authorized West Virginia to administer an NPDES permit program under section 402, see 33 U.S.C. 1342(b), and the State routinely uses this authority to regulate mining operations within its borders. As amicus West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection explains, EPA now seeks to use section 404 to regulate water quality, a matter that is properly addressed by West Virginia pursuant to its NPDES program under section 402. The panel should have rejected EPAs attempted end run around section 402 to avoid disrupting Congress carefully crafted scheme of cooperative federalism. CONCLUSION The petition for rehearing en banc should be granted.

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Respectfully submitted,
S/Paul D. Clement PAUL D. CLEMENT

ROBERT M. ROLFE GEORGE P. SIBLEY, III HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP Riverfront Plaza, East Tower 951 East Byrd Street Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 788-8200 VIRGINIA S. ALBRECHT DEIDRE G. DUNCAN HUNTON & WILLIAMS LLP 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20037 (202) 955-1500 June 7, 2013

Counsel of Record VIET D. DINH NATHAN A. SALES JEFFREY M. HARRIS BANCROFT PLLC 1919 M Street NW Suite 470 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 234-0090 pclement@bancroftpllc.com

Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellee Mingo Logan Coal Company

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ADDENDUM

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Mingo Logan Coal Co. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No. 12-5150, slip op. (D.C. Cir. Apr. 23, 2013).................................. Add-1

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United States Court of Appeals

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

Argued March 14, 2013 No. 12-5150

Decided April 23, 2013

MINGO LOGAN COAL COMPANY, APPELLEE v. UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, APPELLANT

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 1:10-cv-00541)

Matthew Littleton, Attorney, United States Department of Justice, argued the cause for the appellant. Aaron P. Avila, Mark R. Haag, Cynthia J. Morris and Kenneth C. Amaditz, Attorneys, United States Department of Justice, and Stefania D. Shamet, Attorney, United States Environmental Protection Agency, were on brief. Emma C. Cheuse, Jennifer C. Chavez and Benjamin A. Luckett were on brief for amici curiae West Virginia Highland Conservancy et al. in support of the appellant. Robert M. Rolfe argued the cause for the appellee. George P. Sibley III, Virginia S. Albrecht and Deidre G. Duncan were on brief.

Add-1

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2 Kathryn Kusske Floyd and Jay C. Johnson were on brief for amici curiae Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America et al. in support of the appellee. Michael A. Carvin and Kevin P. Holewinski were on brief for amicus curiae United Company in support of the appellee. Benjamin L. Bailey and Michael B. Hissam were on brief for amicus curiae Randy Huffman in support of the appellee. Thanos Basdekis entered an appearance. Before: HENDERSON, GRIFFITH and KAVANAUGH, Circuit Judges. Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge HENDERSON. KAREN LECRAFT HENDERSON, Circuit Judge: The Mingo Logan Coal Company (Mingo Logan) applied to the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for a permit under section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), 33 U.S.C. 1344, to discharge dredged or fill material from a mountain-top coal mine in West Virginia into three streams and their tributaries. The Corpsacting on behalf of the Secretary of the Army (Secretary) and without objection from the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Administrator, EPA), who has veto authority over discharge site selection under CWA subsection 404(c), 33 U.S.C. 1344(c)issued the permit to Mingo Logan, approving the requested disposal sites for the discharged material. Four years later, EPA invoked its subsection 404(c) authority to withdraw the specifications of two of the streams as disposal sites, thereby prohibiting Mingo Logan from discharging into them. Mingo Logan filed this action challenging EPAs withdrawal of the specified sites on the grounds that (1) EPA lacks statutory authority to withdraw site specification after a permit has issued and (2) EPAs decision to do so was arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. 701 et

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3 seq. The district court granted summary judgment to Mingo Logan on the first ground without reaching the second. We reverse the district court, concluding that EPA has post-permit withdrawal authority, and remand for further proceedings. I. The CWA provides that the discharge of any pollutant by any person shall be unlawful except as in compliance with specifically enumerated CWA provisions, including section 404.1 33 U.S.C. 1311(a). Subsection 404(a) authorizes the Secretary to issue permits allowing discharge of dredged or fill material at specified disposal sites, which are to be specified for each such permit by the Secretary . . . through the application of guidelines developed by the Administrator, in conjunction with the Secretary. Id. 1344(a), (b). The Secretarys authority to specify a disposal site is expressly made [s]ubject to subsection (c) of [section 404]. Id. 1344(b). Subsection 404(c) authorizes the Administrator, after consultation with the Corps, to veto the Corpss disposal site specificationthat is, the Administrator is authorized to prohibit the specification (including the withdrawal of
1

Under the CWA, discharge of a pollutant means any addition of any pollutant to navigable waters from any point source, 33 U.S.C. 1362(12); pollutant, in turn, means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water, id. 1362(6). CWA section 404 authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Corps, to issue permits for the discharge of dredged and fill material, while section 402 authorizes EPA to issue permits for the discharge of other pollutants. Natl Assn of Home Builders v. EPA, 667 F.3d 6, 10 (D.C. Cir. 2011) (citing Natl Assn of Home Builders v. U.S. Army Corps of Engrs, 440 F.3d 459, 461 n.1 (D.C. Cir. 2006)).

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4 specification) of any defined area as a disposal site, and . . . to deny or restrict the use of any defined area for specification (including the withdrawal of specification) as a disposal sitewhenever he determines the discharge will have an unacceptable adverse effect on identified environmental resources. Id. 1344(c). In June 1999, Hobet Mining, Inc., Mingo Logans predecessor, applied for a section 404 permit to discharge material from the Spruce No. 1 Mine into four West Virginia streams and their tributaries. In 2002, after the Corps prepared a draft Environmental Impact Statement, EPA expressed its concern that even with the best practices, mountaintop mining yields significant and unavoidable environmental impacts that had not been adequately described in the document. Letter from EPA, Region III to Corps, Huntington Dist., at 1 (June 16, 2006) (JA 617). In the end, however, EPA declined to pursue a subsection 404(c) objection. Email from EPA to Corps (Nov. 2, 2006) (JA 982) ([W]e have no intention of taking our Spruce Mine concerns any further from a Section 404 standpoint . . . .). On January 22, 2007, the Corps issued Mingo Logan a section 404 permit, effective through December 31, 2031, which authorized Mingo Logan to dispose of material into three streamsPigeonroost Branch, Oldhouse Branch and Seng Camp Creekand certain tributaries thereto. Dept of the Army Permit No. 199800436-3 (JA 984) (Spruce Mine Permit). The permit expressly advised that the Corps may reevaluate its decision on the permit at any time the circumstances warrant and that [s]uch a reevaluation may result in a determination that it is appropriate to use the suspension, modification, and revocation procedures contained in 33 CFR 325.7. Id. at 3 (JA 986). The permit made no mention of any future EPA action.

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5 On September 3, 2009, EPA wrote the Corps requesting it use its discretionary authority provided by 33 CFR 325.7 to suspend, revoke or modify the permit issued authorizing Mingo Logan Coal Company to discharge dredged and/or fill material into waters of the United States in conjunction with the construction, operation, and reclamation of the Spruce Fork No. 1 Surface Mine, based on new information and circumstances . . . which justif[ied] reconsideration of the permit. Letter from EPA, Region III to Corps, Huntington Dist., at 1 (Sept. 3, 2009) (JA 941). EPA noted in particular its concern[] about the projects potential to degrade downstream water quality. Id. The Corps responded that there were no factors that currently compell[ed it] to consider permit suspension, modification or revocation. Letter from Corps, Huntington Dist. to EPA, Region III, at 2 (Sept. 30, 2009) (JA 950). EPA wrote back: We intend to issue a public notice of a proposed determination to restrict or prohibit the discharge of dredged and/or fill material at the Spruce No. 1 Mine project site consistent with our authority under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act and our regulations at 40 C.F.R. Part 231. Letter from EPA, Region III to Corps, Huntingdon Dist., at 1 (October 16, 2009) (Supp. JA 1). EPAs Regional Director published the promised notice of proposed determination on April 2, 2010, requesting public comments [p]ursuant to Section 404(c) . . . on its proposal to withdraw or restrict use of Seng Camp Creek, Pigeonroost Branch, Oldhouse Branch, and certain tributaries to those waters in Logan County, West Virginia to receive dredged and/or fill material in connection with construction of the Spruce No. 1 Surface Mine. Proposed Determination, 75 Fed. Reg. 16,788, 16,788 (Apr. 2, 2010). The Regional Director followed up with a Recommended Determination on September 24, 2010, limited to withdrawal of the specification of Pigeonroost Branch and Oldhouse Branch and

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6 their tributaries. On January 13, 2011, EPA published its Final Determination, which, adopting the Regional Directors recommendation, formally withdraws the specification of Pigeonroost Branch, Oldhouse Branch, and their tributaries, as described in [the Spruce Mine Permit] . . . as a disposal site for the discharge of dredged or fill material for the purpose of construction, operation, and reclamation of the Spruce No. 1 Surface Mine and prohibits the specification of the defined area . . . for use as a disposal site associated with future surface coal mining that would be expected to result in a nature and scale of adverse chemical, physical, and biological effects similar to the Spruce No. 1 mine. Final Determination of the Assistant Administrator for Water Pursuant to Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act Concerning the Spruce No. 1 Mine, Logan County, WV, 76 Fed. Reg. 3126, 3128 (Jan. 19, 2011). Mingo Logan filed this action in district court immediately following the Proposed Determination, challenging EPAs authority to revoke the three-year-old permit, Compl., 75, Mingo Logan Coal Co. v. U.S. EPA, C.A. No. 10-00541 (D.D.C. Apr. 2, 2010), and amended its complaint in February 2011 to challenge the Final Determination, asserting it is both ultra vires and arbitrary and capricious. Am. Compl., Mingo Logan Coal (Feb. 28, 2011). On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court granted judgment to Mingo Logan on March 23, 2012. Mingo Logan Coal Co. v. U.S. EPA, 850 F. Supp. 2d 133 (D.D.C. 2012). The court concluded EPA exceeded its authority under section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act when it attempted to invalidate an existing permit by withdrawing the specification of certain areas as disposal sites after a permit had been issued by the Corps under section 404(a). Id. at 134. The United States filed a timely notice of appeal on

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7 behalf of EPA. The Corps joined EPA on brief. Appellant Br. & Reply Br. II. In granting summary judgment, the district court agreed with Mingo Logans interpretation of subsection 404 to preclude EPA from withdrawing a site specification once the Corps has issued a permit. We review a grant of summary judgment de novo applying the same standards as those that govern the district courts determination. Troy Corp. v. Browner, 120 F.3d 277, 283 (D.C. Cir. 1997). Moreover, insofar as the agencys determination amounts to or involves its interpretation of . . . a statute entrusted to its administration, we review that interpretation under the deferential standard of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). Id. Under Chevron: We first ask whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue, in which case we must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress. If the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, however, we move to the second step and defer to the agencys interpretation as long as it is based on a permissible construction of the statute. Natural Res. Def. Council v. EPA, 706 F.3d 428, 431 (D.C. Cir. 2013) (quoting Chevron, 467 U.S. at 84243). We construe subsection 404(c) under Chevron step 1 because we believe the language unambiguously expresses the intent of the Congress. As noted earlier, see supra p. 3, section 404 vests the Corps, rather than EPA, with the authority to issue permits to discharge fill and dredged material into navigable waters and to specify the disposal sites therefor. See 33 U.S.C. 1344(a)(b); see Senate Consideration of the Report of the Conference See

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8 Committee, 1 A Legislative History of the Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (Legislative History) 161, 177 (Jan. 1973) (Statement of Sen. Edmund Muskie, 118 Cong. Rec. at 33,699 (Oct. 4, 1972)) (Senate Committee had reported a bill which treated the disposal of dredged spoil like any other pollutant but Conference Committee adopted provisions of House bill that designated the Secretary of the Army rather than the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency as the permit issuing authority). Nonetheless, the Congress granted EPA a broad environmental backstop authority over the Secretarys discharge site selection in subsection 404(c), which provides in full: (c) Denial or restriction of use of defined areas as disposal sites The Administrator is authorized to prohibit the specification (including the withdrawal of specification) of any defined area as a disposal site, and he is authorized to deny or restrict the use of any defined area for specification (including the withdrawal of specification) as a disposal site, whenever he determines, after notice and opportunity for public hearings, that the discharge of such materials into such area will have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife, or recreational areas. Before making such determination, the Administrator shall consult with the Secretary. The Administrator shall set forth in writing and make public his findings and his reasons for making any determination under this subsection. 33 U.S.C. 1344(c); see Legislative History at 177 ([T]he Conferees agreed that the Administrator . . . should have the veto over the selection of the site for dredged spoil disposal

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9 and over any specific spoil to be disposed of in any selected site.).2 Section 404 imposes no temporal limit on the Administrators authority to withdraw the Corpss specification but instead expressly empowers him to prohibit, restrict or withdraw the specification whenever he makes a determination that the statutory unacceptable adverse effect will result. 33 U.S.C. 1344(c) (emphasis added). Using the expansive conjunction whenever, the Congress made plain its intent to grant the Administrator authority to prohibit/deny/restrict/withdraw a specification at any time.
2

Thus, subsection 404(c) affords EPA two distinct (if overlapping) powers to veto the Corpss specification: EPA may (1) prohibit the specification (including the withdrawal of specification) of any defined area as a disposal site or (2) deny or restrict the use of any defined area for specification (including the withdrawal of specification). In withdrawing the specifications here, EPA did not clearly distinguish between the two powers. See Final Determination, 76 Fed. Reg. at 3127 (EPA Region III published in the Federal Register a Proposed Determination to prohibit, restrict, or deny the specification or the use for specification (including withdrawal of specification) of certain waters at the project site as disposal sites for the discharge of dredged or fill material for the construction of the Spruce No. 1 Surface Mine.). It appears, however, that EPA exercised the first authorityto prohibit/withdraw[]given the post-permit timing. See id. at 3128 (EPAs Final Determination withdraws the specification of Pigeonroost Branch, Oldhouse Branch, and their tributaries, as described in DA Permit No. 199800436-3 (Section 10: Coal River), as a disposal site for the discharge of dredged or fill material for the purpose of construction, operation, and reclamation of the Spruce No. 1 Surface Mine. This Final Determination also prohibits the specification of the defined area constituting Pigeonroost Branch, Oldhouse Branch, and their tributaries for use as a disposal site associated with future surface coal mining that would be expected to result in a nature and scale of adverse chemical, physical, and biological effects similar to the Spruce No. 1 mine.).

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10 See 20 Oxford English Dictionary 210 (2d ed.1989) (defining whenever, used in a qualifying (conditional) clause, as: At whatever time, no matter when.). Thus, the unambiguous language of subsection 404(c) manifests the Congresss intent to confer on EPA a broad veto power extending beyond the permit issuance.3 This construction is further buttressed by subsection 404(c)s authorization of a withdrawal which, as EPA notes, is a term of retrospective application. Appellant Br. 27. EPA can withdraw a specification only after it has been made. See 20 Oxford English Dictionary 449 (2d ed.1989) (defining withdraw as [t]o take back or away (something that has been given, granted, allowed, possessed, enjoyed, or experienced)). Moreover, because the Corps often specifies final disposal sites in the permit itselfat least it did here, see Spruce Mine Permit at 1 (You are authorized to perform work in accordance with the terms and conditions specified below . . . .) (emphasis added) (JA 984)EPAs power to withdraw can only be exercised post-permit. Mingo Logans reading of the statute would eliminate EPAs express statutory right to withdraw a specification and thereby render

Based on the plain meaning of the statutory language, EPA has consistently maintained this interpretation for over thirty years. See Section 404(c) Procedures, 44 Fed. Reg. 58,076, 58,077 (Oct. 9, 1979) (The statute on its face clearly allows EPA to act after the Corps has issued a permit; it refers twice to the withdrawal of specification, which clearly refers to action by EPA after the Corps has specified a site (e.g. issued a permit or authorized its own work).); Final Determination of the Administrator Concerning the North Miami Landfill Site Pursuant to Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act at 1-2 (Jan. 26, 1981) (JA 239-40) (exercising 404(c) authority to restrict the use of [of the North Miami Landfill] for specification (including the withdrawal of specification) as a disposal site almost five years after Corps issued permit therefor). The Corps has made clear by joining EPA in this litigation that it agrees with EPAs interpretation. See supra p. 7.

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11 subsection 404(c)s parenthetical withdrawal language superfluousa result to be avoided. See Corley v. United States, 556 U.S. 303, 314 (2009) (applying one of the most basic interpretative canons, that a statute should be construed so that effect is given to all its provisions, so that no part will be inoperative or superfluous, void or insignificant) (brackets and quotation marks omitted). Notwithstanding the unambiguous statutory language, Mingo Logan presses its own view of the language, the statutory structure and section 404s legislative history to maintain that the Congress intended to preclude post-permit withdrawal. We find none of its arguments persuasive. First, Mingo Logan argues that the statutory language itself contemplates that specification occurs before (rather than when) the permit issues and therefore can (and must) be withdrawn pre-permit. We find no such intent in the statutory directive Mingo Logan quotesthat each such disposal site shall be specified for each such permit by the Secretary . . . through the application of guidelines developed by the Administrator, in conjunction with the Secretary. 33 U.S.C. 1344(b). This language is at least as consistent with specification by the Corps at the time the permit issues as it is with pre-permit specification. Moreover, as noted earlier, see supra p. 10, the Corps expressly specified the final sites in the Spruce Mine Permit itself. Nor does the permitting processincluding the extensive coordination process during which EPA can review the Corpss statement of findings/record of decision, Appellee Br. 31require that the specification be made before the permit issues. During the permitting process, the disposal sites are proposed, reviewedperhaps even specified, as Mingo Logan contendsbut the final specifications are included in the permit itself.

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12 Second, Mingo Logan asserts EPAs interpretation conflicts with section 404 as a whole. Id. at 35. Mingo Logan claims, for example, that EPAs reading obliterates the choice Congress made to give the permitting authority with all of its attributes to the Corps, not EPA. Id. at 36. While it is true that subsections 404(a)-(b) unambiguously authorize the Secretary to issue a discharge permitand to specify the disposal site(s) thereforsection 404(b) makes equally clear, as explained supra pp. 8-11, that the Administrator has, in effect, the final say on the specified disposal sites whenever he makes the statutorily required unacceptable adverse effect determination. Thus, insofar as site specification may be considered, as Mingo Logan asserts, an attribute[] of the permitting authority, the statute expressly vests final authority over this particular attribute in the Administrator. Mingo Logan also contends that EPAs interpretation tramples on provisions like sections 404(p) and 404(q) that are intended to give permits certainty and finality. Appellee Br. 36. Subsection 404(p) provides: Compliance with a permit issued pursuant to [section 404], including any activity carried out pursuant to a general permit issued under this section, shall be deemed compliance, for purposes of [enforcement actions brought under] sections 1319 and 1365 of [title 33] . . . . 33 U.S.C. 1344(p).4 According to Mingo Logan, absent . . . permit violations or public interest considerations, the permittee can rely on the permit shield of section 404(p). Appellee Br. 37. But again, section 404(c)s language is plain with regard to its enumerated unacceptable adverse effects: the Administrator retains authority to

Sections 1319 and 1365 of title 33 authorize an action by, respectively, (1) EPA against a violator of, inter alia, the terms of a section 404 permit; and (2) a citizen against a violator of a CWA effluent limitation or against EPA for failure to perform a nondiscretionary act or duty under the CWA. 33 U.S.C. 1319, 1365.

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13 withdraw a specified disposal site whenever he determines such effects will result from discharges at the sites. And when he withdraws a disposal site specification, as he did here, the disposal sites terms and conditions specified in the permit, see Spruce Mine Permit at 1 (JA 984), are in effect amended so that discharges at the previously specified disposal sites are no longer in [c]ompliance with the permitalthough the permit itself remains otherwise in effect to the extent it is usable.5 Moreover, as EPA notes, subsection 404(c) was enacted in 1972 and its plain meaning did not change when 404(p) was enacted five years later. Appellant Br. 33-34. As Mingo Logan acknowledges, if the text of section 404(c) clearly and unambiguously gave EPA the power to act post-permita reading it rejectsthen section 404(p) cannot be read to implicitly overturn section 404(c). Appellee Br. 39 (citing Appellant Br. at 34 (citing Vill. of Barrington, Ill. v. STB, 636 F.3d 650, 662 (D.C. Cir. 2011))). As we have repeatedly stated throughout this opinion, the text of section 404(c) does indeed clearly and unambiguously give EPA the power to act post-permit. Thus, subsection 404(p) does not implicitly limit section 404(c)s scope. Nor does EPAs express statutory authority to act post-permit interfere with subsection 404(q)s directive that the Secretary enter into

In this case for example, EPA left intact the specification as disposal site of the Right Fork of Seng Camp Creek and its tributaries . . . in part because some of those discharges have already occurred and because the stream resources in Right Fork of Seng Camp Creek were subject to a higher level of historic and ongoing human disturbance than those found in Pigeonroost Branch or Oldhouse Branch. Final Determination, 76 Fed. Reg. at 3127 n.1. In addition, EPA has made clear that a permittee may not be penalized for discharges that occurred in compliance with the permit before the effective date of the withdrawal of the specification.

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14 agreements with other agency heads to minimize, to the maximum extent practicable, duplication, needless paperwork, and delays in the issuance of permits under this section and to assure that, to the maximum extent practicable, a decision with respect to an application for a permit under subsection (a) of this section will be made not later than the ninetieth day after the date the notice for such application is published under subsection (a) of this section. 33 U.S.C. 1344(q) (emphases added). The enumerated obligations apply only pre-permit and are therefore unaffected by EPAs post-permit actions. Finally, Mingo Logan argues that the legislative history confirms that Congress intended EPA to act under section 404(c), if at all, prior to permit issuance. Appellee Br. 42. In particular, it relies on the statement of then-Senator Edmund Muskie that prior to the issuance of any permit to dispose of spoil, the Administrator must determine that the material to be disposed of will not adversely affect municipal water supplies, shellfish beds, and fishery areas (including spawning and breeding areas), wildlife or recreational areas in the specified site. Should the Administrator so determine, no permit may issue. 118 Cong. Rec. at 33,699, reprinted in Legislative History at 177 (emphasis added). Assuming legislative history could override the plain, unambiguous directive of section 404(c) and putting to one side the fact that this was the statement of a single member of Congress, the quoted language is not necessarily inconsistent with EPAs interpretation. See Natural Res. Def. Council v. EPA, 706 F.3d 428, 437 (D.C. Cir. 2013) (quotation marks and brackets omitted); see also Mims v. Arrow Fin. Servs., LLC, 132 S. Ct. 740, 752 (2012) ([T]he views of a single legislator, even a bills sponsor, are not controlling.). That EPA should review the preliminary specifications pre-permit to determine whether discharges will

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15 have the required unacceptable adverse effectas EPA in fact did heredoes not mean it is foreclosed from doing so post-permit as wellas it also did here.6 Thus, this case does not present the very rare situation where the legislative history of a statute is more probative of congressional intent than the plain text. Va. Dept of Med. Assistance Servs. v. U.S. Dept of Health & Human Servs., 678 F.3d 918, 923 (D.C. Cir. 2012) (quoting Consumer Elecs. Assn v. FCC, 347 F.3d 291, 298 (D.C. Cir. 2003)) (brackets omitted). For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the district court insofar as it held that EPA lacks statutory authority under CWA section 404(c) to withdraw a disposal site specification post-permit. Because the district court did not address the merits of Mingo Logans APA challenge to the Final Determination and resolution of the issue is not clear on the present record, we follow our ususal practice and remand the issue to the district court to address in the first instance. See Friends of Blackwater v. Salazar, 691 F.3d 428, 434 n.* (D.C. Cir. 2012) (citing Piersall v. Winter, 435 F.3d 319, 325 (D.C. Cir. 2006)). So ordered.

Similarly, post-permit withdrawal is not precluded by 33 C.F.R. 323.6(b) (The Corps will not issue a permit where the regional administrator of EPA has notified the district engineer and applicant in writing pursuant to 40 CFR 231.3(a)(1) that he intends to issue a public notice of a proposed determination to prohibit or withdraw the specification, or to deny, restrict or withdraw the use for specification, of any defined area as a disposal site in accordance with section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act.).

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE Pursuant to Rule 25 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, I hereby certify that I have this 7th day of June, 2013, served the foregoing documents electronically through the Courts CM/ECF system on all registered counsel. s/Paul D. Clement PAUL D. CLEMENT BANCROFT PLLC 1919 M Street NW Suite 470 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 234-0090 pclement@bancroftpllc.com